Paul Harris has been included in the ODI squad to give South Africa more slow bowling options © Getty Images

South Africa’s selectors have handed Test specialists Paul Harris and Hashim Amla their maiden one-day call-ups while announcing a 14-man squad for the three-match ODI series against Bangladesh.Joubert Strydom, the chairman of the selection committee, said Harris was included to partner offspinner Johan Botha . “We have always wanted to have two specialist spinners in our one-day squad for the sub-continent,” Strydom said. “With both the Champions Trophy in September and the next World Cup scheduled to be played on the sub-continent, it is important that we explore our options in this regard.”Harris had recovered from a surgery that kept him out of ongoing Test series against Bangladesh, and Strydom said it was important that he get “as much exposure to sub-continent conditions as possible” ahead of the tour to India.Strydom said the selectors were keen to see how Amla, who has scored 1251 runs from 21 Tests at 33.81, performs in ODIs. “We will now have a very young middle order of Amla, AB de Villiers and JP Duminy behind the experienced opening combination of Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs and we are very interested to see how they fare under testing conditions.”Meanwhile, Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher and Makhaya Ntini have been rested from the ODIs. Explaining the selectors’ decision, Strydom said: “It is with an eye on the Indian Test series that we have also decided to rest Kallis, Boucher and Ntini.”It is going to be a very tough assignment and we need to have them fresh and ready for the challenge. We feel that the rest will be extremely beneficial in this regard.”South Africa will be without the services of Shaun Pollock, who retired from the game in the home series against West Indies, and the performances of the two allrounders, Albie Morkel and Vernon Philander, will be closely watched to see whether they can fit in as long-term options.The first ODI begins in Chittagong on March 14.Squad
Graeme Smith (capt), Herschelle Gibbs, AB de Villiers (wk), JP Duminy, Alviro Petersen, Hashim Amla, Albie Morkel, Vernon Philander, Paul Harris, Johan Botha, Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn, Charl Langeveld, Andre Nel

	Andrew Hilditch says the general view of Australia’s summer is it was “remarkably positive”, but the players did not feel the same after the CB Series loss © Getty Images

Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, is certain age was not a defining factor in Australia’s CB Series loss to India. The average of the squad was 32 years, but Hilditch said it was almost the same unit that secured the World Cup less than 12 months earlier.”It’s far too much of a generalisation to say the side was too old,” Hilditch told the Australian. “The facts are we had some key players not scoring runs at critical times and that can happen.”Ricky Ponting and Andrew Symonds were both out of form, with neither finishing in the top 10 batsmen of the series. The team’s 2-0 finals defeat means South Africa only need to cleansweep the contest with Bangladesh to move to the No. 1 ranking.”Once you lose a game you can sit back and analyse all sorts of reasons and nobody can prove anything right or wrong,” Hilditch said. “But I certainly don’t think in any way, shape or form that age was a factor. In fact, I’d be positive that’s not the case.”The side is basically the same, with obviously a couple of critical changes, to the one which won the World Cup and repeated that standard of performance in India in extremely difficult circumstances, where they played really well. And we were comprehensive in the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy.”Australia’s form was less predictable after the contentious Sydney Test even though they topped the table in the preliminary rounds of the CB Series. However, they lost the final three matches of the campaign and the trophy went to India.”Like after the 2005 Ashes, we’re going to do a detailed analysis of where we can improve,” Hilditch said. “We’ll do that again this year. But often you can over-react because the result can come down to playing well on a couple of days in one-day cricket. The general view of the season is remarkably positive.”

Gayle no-show
Chris Gayle will miss the Kolkata Knightriders’ first home game, against the Deccan Chargers this Sunday. He did not leave for India on Friday as he was scheduled to, owing to a groin injury, and is expected to be out of action for a fortnight, according to the team spokesman. Though he will miss the first few games, Gayle is expected stay on, along with Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan, till the end of the tournament despite Australia’s tour of West Indies clashing with the IPL.Ranji Mumbai Indians
The Mumbai Indians have recruited several former Ranji players as support staff for the team. While former Test wicketkeeper Sameer Dighe is their fielding coach, Mumbai batsman Atul Bedade is the travel manager and former Indian left-arm spinner Rahul Sanghvi is their team manager. Apart from them, Subroto Banerjee, a medium-pacer who played one Test for India before moving to New South Wales, has been called in as Mumbai’s bowling coach. Banerjee is a Level II coach and plays grade cricket in Sydney.Bravo in for Malinga
Dwayne Bravo, the West Indies allrounder, will be joining the Mumbai Indians squad to replace the injured Sri Lankan fast bowler Lasith Malinga. Lalchand Rajput, Mumbai’s coach, confirmed that Bravo was the unanimous choice of the “few” names discussed by the team think-tank. Malinga, recovering from a knee injury that he picked during the CB Series in Australia, and, had to miss the Caribbean tour but was confident last week he would be fit to join the Mumbai squad. But Rajput said “we got a report that his recovery might take a further two to three weeks. So we decided to have a back-up”.

	Dave Langford-Smith is hanging up his boots © Getty Images

Dave Langford-Smith, the Ireland opening bowler, has announced his retirement from international cricket. Langford-Smith played in 22 one-dayers, picking up 25 wickets at 31.88, and represented Ireland on their recent tour of Bangladesh.”It has been a tough decision for me, but one I had to make,” Langford-Smith said. “On returning from the latest tour, I have realised that my workload [outside cricket] has built up so much that I will find it hard to do anything else. I’ve reached a stage in my life where I have to think about my family, and it’s difficult when you are away from home so much.””Playing for the Irish team has been the greatest sporting experience I could have ever wished for, and I am proud to have been a part of such a successful team, both on and off the field.”Like most Associate cricketers, Langford-Smith has had to juggle cricket with a full-time job, and has recently formed his own painting and decorating business. His departure follows last week’s news that the Ireland captain, Trent Johnston, is to take an indefinite break from the game.Langford-Smith leaves international cricket as Ireland’s leading wicket-taker in ODIs.

	Graeme Smith was dismissed in a bizarre manner by Shaun Pollock (file photo) © Getty Images

Pollock trumps his former captain
It was one of the mini-battles of the day: Shaun Pollock vs Graeme Smith. Having tied Smith down in his first over with accurate line and length, Pollock returned in the next over to deliver smartly disguised slower one. Smith came down the track to drive, missed the ball completely, and perhaps thinking that he was bowled, began to walk off without looking back. He did not realize that the ball had missed the stumps and the wicketkeeper Yogesh Takawale had fumbled it. Takawale had enough time to recover and stump Smith, who was walking briskly towards the bowler’s end. But Pollock’s excitement was multifold as he jumped in air and repeatedly swung his arms in child-like excitement.Keep it straight and simple
Ashish Nehra may not have Dale Steyn’s pace but he can swing the ball.Yusuf Pathan was facing his first ball from Nehra and attempted the ambitious slog over deep midwicket straightaway. He missed and Nehra swung the ball back into him and hit the stumps. A few overs later Shane Watson, who threatened to blast Mumbai away, also paid the price for a horizontal-bat heave against Dwayne Bravo, who had gone round the wicket to angle the ball away from the right-hander.Terrific Takawale
Tracking the flight of the ball, while running towards the boundary, is never an easy task for a wicketkeeper especially when he is squatting to begin with. Yogesh Takawale displayed agility and excellent judgement as he set off immediately with his eyes fixed on the ball after Ravindra Jadeja had top-edged Dhawal Kulkarni over his head. Takawale ran as close as he could and dived to cover the remaining distance to pouch an outstanding catch. It was one of the four dismissals he affected.No cause for cheer
One set of cheerleaders were unusually quiet today and it wasn’t because of crowd trouble or because they hurt some conservative politician’s sentiments. The three sets of Rajasthan Royals cheer girls, dressed in white, yellow and red, were left seated for the majority of the first innings as Rajasthan crashed and burned for 103, the lowest first-innings score of the IPL.The name’s Warne
Takawale was having a superb match until he came face to face with Shane Warne. He prepared to face the first ball, perhaps expected the leg break, and shaped up to pull. Warne ripped in the flipper on off stump, cramped the batsman for room and the ball brushed the pad on its way through to hitting off stump.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details5:53

Arnold: Sarfraz ideal man to bat with tail

The discipline of Sri Lanka’s seamers bore down heavily upon Pakistan, and Sarfraz Ahmed was left conjuring another revival act after another collective batting failure. Rain interrupted play frequently, and 20 overs were lost despite play being extended till light faded, with Pakistan trailing by 69 runs, and last man Imran Khan standing with Sarfraz.Sri Lanka’s tail lasted only 3.5 overs into the morning, after which their seamers hit back with the wickets of the Pakistan openers, and the visitors slipped further with Younis Khan’s run-out at the stroke of lunch. From 45 for 3, Azhar Ali uncharacteristically countered with several boundaries to make 52, but Dhammika Prasad and Nuwan Pradeep never allowed a partnership to develop, three of them getting terminated in the 40s.The zip and movement available to Pakistan’s fast bowlers on day one was not quite there for Sri Lanka, but they made up for it with their perseverance. Prasad caused problems with his usual energetic effort combined with accuracy. Although he and Suranga Lakmal were taken for a few runs when they pitched it up, they also kept testing the batsmen, as did Nuwan Pradeep’s greater control and shorter lengths.It was the bustling Prasad who produced the breakthrough, hitting Shan Masood full on the boot in the ninth over, and appealing loud and long enough to convince umpire Ian Gould. Replays showed umpire’s call for both point of impact on the boot and on the stumps.With Lakmal hit for a few boundaries by Ahmed Shehzad, Pradeep was brought on and struck with his third delivery, his tight line confusing Shehzad, who edged behind in trying to leave one too late.Angelo Mathews then came on himself and squeezed the runs further, with only four coming in six overs after Shehzad’s fall. Younis was looking comfortable with his defence, but the lack of runs made him push for a tight single in the last over of the session, and Kaushal Silva found his mark from short midwicket.Runs came much quicker after the interval. Sri Lanka tried bowling full searching for swing. It wasn’t alarming movement, and Azhar picked up fours regularly through the off side. Mathews positioned deep point soon, but Azhar was able to place it wide of the fielder on occasion.The hosts then tried banging it short from round the stumps, especially to Asad Shafiq, but the pair survived till a 20-minute rain delay. Facing his first ball upon resumption from Prasad, Shafiq was caught on the crease to a length ball that came in.Azhar kept counter-attacking and Sarfraz was anyway going to play his shots, a top-edged hook falling safely behind square off Prasad, before another shower arrived and forced tea to be taken.Pradeep, who had bowled superbly without enough reward, got two in quick succession after tea. Azhar had prospered on the drive, and he fell by it, nicking Pradeep to second slip.It was a proper crisis by now at 135 for 5 and in walked Misbah-ul-Haq, batting down the order due to a groin strain. He lasted 17 balls, Pradeep suddenly going wide of the crease and angling one full to strike the pad.Yet again, it was Sarfraz who stepped up. He had been loose when he came in, but applied himself after tea. Of course, his style of batting meant the score kept moving. Calculated drives were hit through the off side, singles and twos were picked square both sides of the wicket. His confidence rubbed off on Yasir Shah, who hit some meaty strokes in an eighth-wicket stand of 45.There was not much of a role for the offspinner Tharindu Kaushal till later in the innings, when he nailed a couple of tailenders lbw.In the morning, Yasir Shah took his wicket-tally for the series to 22, and became only the second visiting bowler after Shane Warne to take three five-fors in a Test series in Sri Lanka, when he ended the hosts’ innings by trapping Pradeep lbw.

Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann has demonstrated his concerns about a diminishing supply of high-class pace bowling resources by revealing he tried to convince Mitchell Johnson to remain a limited-overs player after his retirement from Test matches in Perth.Johnson told Lehmann and the captain Steven Smith of his intention to leave international cricket on the third evening of the WACA Test against New Zealand. While they accepted their spearhead’s decision, Lehmann has said he floated the possibility of Johnson sticking around as an ODI or Twenty20 bowler for Australia but was rebuffed.”His mind was made up as soon as he spoke to Steven and myself after day three. He’d been thinking about it for a while, been talking about it in the media,” Lehmann told the Adelaide radio station . “We spoke to him about maybe playing the one-dayers, we think that was a really good option for us to have that experience there. But he’s not into it, he’s not into the training anymore, he’s had enough and he just wants to sit at home and watch us play.”While no longer eager to pursue the rigorous training and travel regimen of an international fast bowler, Johnson is set to keep playing in the game’s shortest format for some time yet. The Perth Scorchers have been in discussions with his manager Sam Halvorsen about a potential Big Bash League deal, and the WACA chief executive Christian Matthews has said that “we’ve had indications he’s keen to play for us”.Lehmann, meanwhile, has reflected on a shrinking supply of pacemen, with the loss of Johnson and Ryan Harris thrusting the likes of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Peter Siddle and James Pattinson very much to the forefront of the national team’s plans across all forms of the game. The selection of Andrew Fekete, who has since been dropped by Tasmania, for the postponed tour of Bangladesh demonstrated a wide open field beneath this quartet.”We’ve got a few injuries at the moment, with Harris and Johnson retiring and then you chuck in Pat Cummins injured at the moment,” Lehmann said. “We’ve got some depth in young kids, but these four [Starc, Hazlewood, Siddle, Pattinson] are prime bowlers for us and we’ve got to keep them on the park.”Hazlewood, Siddle and Pattinson are seemingly duelling for two bowling spots alongside Starc. Lehmann said that Hazlewood had not performed to his satisfaction in the first two Tests of the New Zealand series, but he was hesitant about being overly critical of a young bowler still learning his game and duly inconsistent.”He got better and better in Perth, he certainly bowled well with the new ball in the second innings, better than he probably has all series, so he looks like he’s running into a little bit of form there,” Lehmann said. “But it’s tough to spot because he’s a young kid, he bowls well in patches and we probably should have held a few catches to help our bowlers out a little bit as well. He’d like more wickets, as we would.”Bowlers on both sides have been neutered by flat pitches in Brisbane and Perth, but Lehmann stressed that he expected better of Australia’s pacemen in particular. While the likes of Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor have flourished so far, Lehmann contended that this was largely as a result of their not being put under enough pressure by consistent bowling to the fields set by Smith.”I certainly don’t think we’ve bowled as well as we should have,” he said. “I said that after the first Test and then the second Test. We’re certainly batting well enough at the moment, so if we get the bowling right, and get the ball in the right areas and put a bit more pressure on them, not too many free balls, that might be a different story.”

ScorecardFile photo – Varun Aaron rocked Delhi’s top order and finished with figures of 3 for 27•Getty Images

An unbeaten half-century from Nitish Rana helped Delhi overcome a poor start and pull off a five-wicket win over Jharkhand at the Bandra Kurla Complex. Rana walked in with Delhi 14 for 3 chasing 135, and remained unbeaten on 60 off 44 balls (9×4, 1×6) after seeing them through with two overs to spare. He added 64 for the fourth wicket with Dhruv Shorey (30) and an unbroken 40 for the sixth wicket with Pawan Negi (24 not out). Varun Aaron, who struck twice in the third over of Delhi’s innings, finished with figures of 3 for 27 from his four overs.Sent in to bat, Jharkhand lost wickets at regular intervals, with Virat Singh (45) and Ishank Jaggi (42 off 29, 6×4) putting on the only significant stand of their innings, 62 for the fourth wicket. The highest score either side of that was Kumar Deobrat’s 13, as Delhi’s bowlers, led by Parvinder Awana’s 3 for 28, kept them down to a score of 134 for 7.
ScorecardUttar Pradesh coasted to their second successive win with a seven-wicket win against Gujarat in Mumbai. Chasing 166, Samarth Singh struck an unbeaten 65 – his first fifty – to help Uttar Pradesh romp to the target with an over to spare.Uttar Pradesh lost Prashant Gupta early before Suresh Raina (21 off 12) and Samarth combined for a brisk 31-run stand. Umang Sharma (38) and Samarth then put on 63 to help Uttar Pradesh into the ascendancy. Rush Kalaria picked up two wickets.Earlier, Gujarat rode on a 40-ball 54 from Manpreet Juneja after losing their openers early. However, it was Chirag Gandhi who provided the required impetus to the innings with a quick 41 to help Gujarat to a total of 165 for 6. Praveen Kumar claimed two scalps but it was Piyush Chawla who was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 1 for 16.
ScorecardShreyas Iyer smashed a 51-ball 86 to lift Mumbai to a comfortable five-wicket win against Vidarbha at the Wankhede Stadium. Mumbai lost Akhil Herwadkar early in the chase of 182, but Iyer and Tare (41) got them back in the contest with a 71-run second-wicket stand. Iyer lost partners regularly but his innings, which featured four fours and six sixes, ensured the damage had been done as Mumbai reached the target with seven balls to spare.After being insterted to bat, Vidarbha posted 181 for 4 on the back of a fifty from Jitesh Sharma (56 off 30) and brisk contributions from Apoorv Wankhade (36) and Urvesh Patel (31). Sagar Trivedi picked up two wickets, but conceded 44 off his four overs.

ScorecardFile photo – Adam Voges prepared for the upcoming Tests against New Zealand with a patient 149•AFP

Ed Cowan retired hurt and will take no further part in the match after being struck on the helmet by a Joel Paris bouncer as New South Wales started out in their effort to reel in a first innings deficit against Western Australia on day three of the Sheffield Shield match in Christchurch.Only four more deliveries were bowled after Cowan’s blow before the umpires decided to end the day early due to bad light. Momentarily stunned and distressed, Cowan was able to make his own way off the field after speaking with the NSW team doctor – and Cricket Australia chief medical officer – John Orchard.Under CA’s concussion and head trauma policy, overseen by Orchard, any symptoms of possible concussion require full off-field assessment and a conservative recovery plan. It states in part:”The full assessment is critical in determining medical management decisions for the participant. Serious head injury cannot be ruled out by a 30 second assessment due to the variability of the presentation of symptoms, delay in evolution of presentation of symptoms, difficulty in making a timely diagnosis and the specificity and sensitivity of sideline assessment tools.”The bulk of the day saw WA’s batsmen dominate, with the Test No. 5 Adam Voges making a patient 149 as the backbone of the innings. He was aided by a fluent 93 from the wicketkeeper Sam Whiteman, while Nathan Rimmington enjoyed himself in making 48 down the order.Doug Bollinger, Trent Copeland and the Test spinner Nathan Lyon claimed three wickets apiece, though all were taken for more than 100 runs each as the Warriors settled in on a friendly batting pitch at Bert Sutcliffe Oval.Left with a handful of overs before the close, Paris struck quickly by bowling Daniel Hughes, before the blow to Cowan had Lyon coming out to bat as nightwatchman. The Blues still need another 78 runs on the final morning to get back into credit.

Arsenal striker Robin van Persie has said he would like to be held in the same regard as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney next season.

He missed much of the later half of the season after injuring his ankle while on international duty with Netherlands in Italy last November, but he made an instant impact on his return to the Gunners first-team and he now wants an uninterrupted campaign to prove his worth.

Speaking to reporters, he said:"Arsene Wenger said at the end of this season, once I'd come back into the team, that people would have been talking about me like Lionel Messi if I had not been injured.

"I can see what the manager meant when he said those things. But I still think I am not in the same class until I have gone a long period without an injury and I want to go through next season where I score 30 goals and have 20 assists.

"Only then I will turn around to the manager and say, 'Yes boss, you are right'.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

"But I admit that I have a massive desire to get to the level of Messi, Rooney and Ronaldo and I'd rather do it today than tomorrow.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email